How to Calculate Your Caloric Intake and Use it to Lose Weight

format_quote Originally Posted by Gossamer skye

got to add a personal note, if you are down and out, you are sure to drop the weight without even trying.. you simply forget to eat..

How to Calculate Your Caloric Intake and Use it to Lose Weight

By Jennifer R. Scott, About.com Guide
Updated June 13, 2009
About.com Health's Disease and Condition content is reviewed by our Medical Review Board

See More About:

• counting calories
• caloric intake
• calorie deficit
• cutting calories
• weight loss goals

(Continued from Page 1)



Create a Calorie Deficit

In order to lose weight, you must create a calorie deficit. It is easier and healthier to cut back your calorie intake a little bit at a time. Every 3,500 calories is equivalent to one pound. So, if you cut back 500 calories a day, you should lose about one pound per week. That said, If you exercise to burn off 500 calories a day you should lose approximately one pound per week. Do both, and ... you get the picture. Ideally, you should do a combination of both, (such as cut back 250 calories; burn an extra 250 calories).
Your weight loss will vary from week to week and at times you may even gain a little weight -- if you're working out you could be developing muscle, which weighs more than fat.
The long-term results are what matters.

Lose at a Healthy Rate

A healthy weight loss goal is to lose .5 to 2 pounds per week. Losing more than 2 pounds per week will mean the weight is less likely to stay off permanently. Never cut back to fewer than 1,200 daily calories without medical supervision. To find out how you are spending your current calorie intake, keep a detailed food diary for at least one week. (You can check the calorie content of most foods at About.com's Calorie Count.)

Make the Cut(s)

With careful review, you will find ways to cut back those 250 calories a day: the milk in your cereal ... the can of soda you drink daily ... the butter on your toast. Making little changes like these will really add up in the long run.
Check the calorie content of the foods you recorded in your food diary on paper or keep your actual food diary online with About.com's Calorie Count. Pay attention to serving sizes -- if your portion consisted of two servings, be sure to double the calories. Use a measuring cup or scale to measure your portions until you learn to "eyeball" them.
Next, find foods you can do without altogether, reduce portions of, or switch for lower-calorie alternatives.
And guess what? It's easier than you think. Take it one meal at a time. Or even one food at a time. And then, one day at a time.
Tomorrow, trade whole milk for reduced-fat milk The next day, try diet soda instead of regular. Three days in, switch to light wheat bread instead of white. All the calorie-reductions you make (and stick to) will add up in the long run.

Burn it Off!

Becoming more active will knock the remaining 250 calories out. For example, a 180-pound person who walks at a brisk 3 mph will burn just over 250 calories in 45 minutes. Experts agree that it's easier to exercise than to cut the same number of calories that exercise shaves off. In other words, it's just plain easier for us to be a little more active than to do without more food to achieve the same calorie reduction.
http://weightloss.about.com/od/eatsm...alintake_2.htm

Ms. Skye....you have to eat! No forgetting to eat. I send you to mia madres house, she will make you some awesome Italian food If you don't eat you will lose muscle mass to. You have to be a strong Muslimah! This way you have the strength to get us Christians here

Just making sure your eating God be with you

format_quote Originally Posted by mad_scientist

I doubt it is as simple as that. Some people are genetically pre-disposed to be fat and they cannot get slim unless they malnourish themselves.

Is that really true though? I always wonderd that? I have always worked out and have a low body fat index. It was actually so low one time that the doctor said it was dangerous? I guess you have to have some fat? But i only did that in the off season. When I boxed i never drank enough fluid, I would get so dehydrated you could pinch me and the skin would stay that way so weird....i didn't know? Now I drink a gallon of water a day!

format_quote Originally Posted by mad_scientist

Well, I dont have any concrete data to back my claims up, I speak from personal experience only, take it for what it is worth.

I eat less than normal humans, I dont loose weight. The only way I was able to loose weight significantly was when I did not eat anything for 3.5 months except multi-vitamin and mineral pills and drank water. And protein shake with 0 carb twice a week so as not to loose the important proteins. It was fun to watch that blubber burn away. The only bad thing was keto smell from mouth.

Dude you have to be carefull! Don't deprive your body of it's much needed nutreints.

format_quote Originally Posted by *charisma*

Assalamu alaikum

^Do you work out?? The fat in your body is essentially stored energy, therefore if you exercise the fat starts to burn away AND your metabolism gradually increases allowing you to lose weight through out the day and not just while you're working out.

Eating less isn't really going to do much unless you exercise...just eat the right food and drink lots of water, along with exercise and you really will start losing weight quickly inshallah.

fi aman allah
w'salaam

Was that for me or our mad scientist brother?

Thank god my metabolism is fast and strong but i don't know if its gonna change with time. untill now its good i'm 33 years old i eat anything any time. But i'm sure it will change cos i can see a thin bit of fat on my stomac now.

I hope i never need this food calculation thing cos its a pain in the neck it will start with the food routine then you will end up buying more mirrors to your house.

format_quote Originally Posted by Getoffmyback

Thank god my metabolism is fast and strong but i don't know if its gonna change with time. untill now its good i'm 33 years old i eat anything any time. But i'm sure it will change cos i can see a thin bit of fat on my stomac now.

I hope i never need this food calculation thing cos its a pain in the neck it will start with the food routine then you will end up buying more mirrors to your house.

Dude you are still reallllly young I am 30 so i like saying that. I have to work out allot, but I eat tons of food and hardly gain weight. Thank God for high metabolisms

format_quote Originally Posted by Gossamer skye

If you don't eat you'll lose weight, it is that simple.. There are obviously very complex biochemical reactions in the body that will enable it to sustain itself for a while and carry on the regular function, as I am sure you have learned of what complex reactions take place during fast and prolonged fast.. yes it will appear for weeks that you have not lost any weight -- that is if you don't exhibit signs of starvation and gorge on something in the middle..

I have lost 17pds in a matter of a couple of months and I have always been the same weight since I have entered college perhaps plus or minus 5pds-- I now force myself to eat on a timed schedule as to not completely waste, and I try to place in those meals at least some sort of protein even if in the form of a shake, and a fruit or veggie or cereal.

I can't describe the feeling of having positively no desire for anything.. one has to to be struck with it to understand it.

I too subscribed to the belief that some folks do what they may and never lose weight but I no longer subscribe to that belief and that is all that it is, a belief because even though we are wired and built differently, the physiology and biochemistry of the human body doesn't change, perhaps a few pathological aberrations on a hypothalamic level but that is extremely rare hyperphagic condition.. most folks who are overweight that you say, got there through a sedentary life style and a very poor diet .. if you can stand it go on for a week with 1000 calories less than you are accustomed and the first week you'll remain of the same weight.. now keep that ( - 1000 or minus 500 calorie diet) for a few weeks and let me know how you fare..

Thats a good idea Ms. Skye, a scheduled eating time. I need to try that. I do allot of cardio and weight lifting and don't eat at the right times. I have lost allot of weight doing what you said about not eating. After about 3 days my hunger was gone? Maybe stomach lining shrink? I think our bodies get used to a certain amount of food intake and we feel hungry out of habit sometimes not actuall hunger. I have noticed if I am real hungry i can eat a bananna and if I wait 5 minutes I feel full. I think some people cram in so much food before there bellies realize it and they have then eaten too much? I am not a nutricianist or any kind of doctor for that matter so I wouldn't know? My father was a Nuerologist and my wifes father is a Nephrologist. My mother is a RN, so i se her for med help.lol

format_quote Originally Posted by Gossamer skye

I am not a dietitian either, but you have made a couple of good points..
in simple terms and as my college friend used to always say ''our eyes are bigger than our stomachs'' so when we see something attractive we gorge and gorge and gorge, and our stomach does expand to accommodate it.. if you take a banana and water and go pray or whatever you'll find yourself substantially less hungry and will eat less at dinner.. and indeed over time your body gets accustomed to eating less..

I think we are about the only creatures that eat for pleasure.. we eat when we are not hungry, or we'll skip food when we are hungry for a pressing engagement. I think the whole 'scheduled meal' thing is if you are completely with no appetite or if one is sick especially terminal patients since food and sleep are the only two mechanisms the body needs to fight.

peace

Very true, our eyes are much biger than our stomachs...unless we eat way to much. I was on a 10,000 calorie a day diet for weightlifting and boxing, and even them it was hard to attain mass. When i slowed down in activity, I noticed my body was used to that diet. After only 3 days of cutting calorie intake in half, I was starving! But it's mind control I think? If one is strong enough to fight the temptation of false hunger they will be much better off.

When I fast, I don't eat, I do have lots of water, but no food and I feel fine. I usually fast in prayer once a week, for 2 or three days, if time permits. I will sometimes do it every other day, so I can eat. But I do like your idea of sticking to a regiment of eating.